​Five Ways To Start Your Day by Marcus Aurelius
 

1. GREET YOUR MORNING WITH GRATITUDE: When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.
2. PRACTICE PREMEDITATIO MALORUM: When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly. Premeditatio Malorum or Negative Visualization is a technique to anticipate the worst so that we can adequately prepare ourselves for the challenges that lie ahead.
3. PRACTICE DELIBERATE DISCOMFORT: Set aside a certain number of days, during which you shall be content with the scantiest and cheapest fare, saying to yourself the while, “Is this the condition I feared?” The practice is to continually test ourselves by making life routinely uncomfortable in some way to harden ourselves for the day we may need to live it for real.
4.  JOURNALING: By writing each morning, we can formally declutter the stress and the noise in our minds and become more aligned with our feelings. Journaling allows us to think more clearly and helps us to live a virtuous life. The more we write, the more our philosophy ingrains itself in our character, and the less we will find ourselves forgetting the wisdom we have come across in the past.
5. TACKLE THE MOST IMPORTANT TASK FIRST: Concentrate every minute like a man – on doing what’s in front of us with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, and with justice. By doing the most important task first thing in the day, you go about the rest of your day knowing you have done the difficult task, and the rest of your day will be easy by comparison. By completing the critical task on your To-Do List before anything else, you get both momentum and a sense of accomplishment. 

“Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer.” - Joseph Campbell
 
How do you bring your meaning to life?

 “What is a prophet? One who names the situation truthfully and in its largest context.” - Fr. Richard Rohr
 
How do you live a prophetic life?

If someone took you out of your comfort zone could you survive?

​If your life were upended today, by the loss of a job, or someone close to you dying, or you finding out you had a chronic or terminal illness, how resilient would you be?

Would you be a stress-survivor or are you so fragile that your world would become unglued?

Arthur Schopenhauer once said, "Every person takes the limits of their own mind for the limits of the world." What is your mind saying about your world?

When the trials and tribulations we all experience in life slap us across the face, is your mind telling you that you are weak and frail, or is it telling you that you are strong and determined?

Watch this short video and learn the story of the world's most delicate bird.

Leave me a comment about what your mind is saying about the type of person you are.     

“The simple act of practicing gratitude disrupts negative thoughts and changes our mindset to see the world in a positive way.” - Doug Good Feather
 
How does practicing gratitude disrupt your negative thoughts?

“It isn’t your fault that you were dealt a bad hand, but it is your responsibility. How long will allow your past to hold you back before you finally take control of your future.” - David Goggins
 
How do you take responsibility for the hand you have been dealt?

“Don’t be intimidated by the impossibility, be motivated by the opportunity.” - Herb Brooks
 
How are you motivated by your opportunity?

“Win through your actions, never through argument.” - Robert Greene
 
How do your actions lead to victory?

How much time do you spend on your NOW as opposed to your FUTURE or your PAST?

One of the biggest reasons people can't begin a project, or don't lose weight, or never reach their goals, is that they don't understand the importance of starting NOW. Everything isn't perfect, things aren't aligned just right and as a result, they will put off beginning until EVERYTHING is where it should be.

Guess what? It will NEVER be the perfect time. Whatever you want to do, start NOW and figure it out as you go along.   

I heard a story told about Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx. As a woman in her late 20s she desperately wanted to retool her life and start her company. As a result, she jumped in with both feet and founded Spanx, even though she hadn't figured everything out. The storyteller made the observation that if she hadn't launched the company when she did and had waited until everything was aligned, someone else would have started a similar company before her.

As former president, Theodore Roosevelt put it, "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

Watch this short video about the importance of embracing the NOW!

“Nothing in the world can bother you as much as your own mind.” - Sri Sri Ravi Shanker
 
How are you maintaining control over your mind?

Peace of Mind
 
 Once Buddha was walking from one town to another town with a few of his followers. This was in the initial days. While they were traveling, they happened to pass a lake. They stopped there and Buddha told one of his disciples, “I am thirsty. Do get me some water from that lake there.”
The disciple walked up to the lake. When he reached it, he noticed that some people were washing clothes in the water and, right at that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy. The disciple thought, “How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink!” So, he came back and told Buddha, “The water in there is very muddy. I don’t think it is fit to drink.”
After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink. The disciple obediently went back to the lake. This time he found that the lake had absolutely clear water in it. The mud had settled down and the water above it looked fit to be had. So, he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.
Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said, “See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be ... and the mud settled down on its own and you got clear water.” Your mind is also like that. When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless.”
What did Buddha emphasize here? He said, “It is effortless.” Having 'peace of mind' is not a strenuous job; it is an effortless process. When there is peace inside you, that peace permeates to the outside. It spreads around you and in the environment, such that people around start feeling that peace and grace.
 
www.rogerdarlington.me.uk/stories.

“You have a four-fold life to live: a body, a brain, a heart, and a soul…these are your living tools. To use them and develop them is not a task…it is a golden opportunity.” - William H. Danforth
 
How are you developing your heart, mind, body, and soul?